Embracing Change, Realizing Dreams - WPP.com

STUDYING SENIORS – WHAT A PLEASURE !As research subjects, seniors are a pleasure to work with. They are garrulous; they areas open as they are opinionated. They aren’t usually rushing off for meetings, eventhough they might sometimes have to collect their grandkids from school – when they’rehappy to take you along. They are eager that you meet their circle of friends, mahjong ortaichi partners.Our study spanned China’s megalopolises – Shanghai and Beijing, a relatively big city,Chengdu, and a small town in Guangdong province, Foshan. Using a mix of video andphoto ethnography, and quantitative methods, we spent time with them, as much as wemeasured their opinions and preferences. We didn’t bundle them into conferencerooms. Rather, we had conversations with them in their natural habitat: parks,teahouses, their homes (or those of their children), old age homes, public libraries. Thatexperience itself was heartwarming.Our exploration spanned a range of subjects:- how satisfied or dissatisfied they were with what life had to offer them- to understand their views about changes they’d witnessed in Chinese society- to get a deeper appreciation of their relationships with their family: their childrenand grandchildren; the challenges faced in and expectations from thoserelationships- to understand which channels they sought and received information and news from- to understand the relevance of various products and services for them, as well as geta sense of their unmet needs- their attitude towards retirement homes.That apart, we also were keen on exploring the representation of senior citizens in themedia, particularly marketing communications; since we believed that much of the time,they were depicted as the ones who stood in the way of progress and modernization, as iftheir negative or outdated opinions had to be overcome in order to get ahead.For those interested in the numbers, our quantitative sample comprised 1100 men andwomen in equal proportions, with a minimum of middle school education, anddistributed across high, middle and low income groups. Our video ethnography samplecomprised four individuals each in Beijing, Chengdu and Foshan. The views of anentire range of seniors - those living with their children and their families, old couples,living alone and those living in senior citizens homes are represented in our analysis.This monograph is accompanied by a DVD containing a documentary. We urge you tospend the 52 minutes that would be required to view it.